


Partners, But Not In Crime

by fizzyblogic (phizzle)



Category: Hot Fuzz (2007)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-06-18
Updated: 2007-06-18
Packaged: 2017-10-07 21:40:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/69505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phizzle/pseuds/fizzyblogic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>For decor_noctis <3</p>
    </blockquote>





	Partners, But Not In Crime

**Author's Note:**

> For decor_noctis &lt;3

Danny didn't so much move in as just, not leave.

It started off when Frank was home, during the court case. He had both keys to Danny's flat and an unfortunate habit of turning up just as Nicholas and Danny were getting to the good bits in _Bad Boys_. So Danny started going over to Nicholas's more often, bringing the DVDs and ice cream.

The day that he left both _Bad Boys 2_ and _Point Break_ in the cabinet under the TV at Nicholas's was the day Nicholas accepted the fact that Danny was slowly becoming a permanent resident in the cottage. It happened piece by piece, and Nicholas was fairly sure that Danny wasn't even aware of it, but he woke up one morning to Danny's snoring in his ear, and after moving out from under half of Danny and being joined in his morning shower _and_ automatically making breakfast for two, Nicholas had to sit back and realise that _every_ morning went like this and maybe, just maybe, Danny had gone from boyfriend to live-in boyfriend.

He tried broaching the subject a couple of times, but got as far as "So, do you ... want me to get you a new toothbrush?" before giving the rest of the conversation up as a bad lot. (Danny usually asked if the toothbrush would be in the shape of a gun. Just occasionally, Nicholas wished he hadn't told him about the novelty toothbrushes he had once seen in a shop somewhere in London. He couldn't even remember where, but he was pretty certain that if the memory of the whereabouts of this shop ever came back to him, Danny would want to go there. And buy at least six.)

It wasn't that Nicholas didn't want Danny there; it was, as it happened, quite a pleasant thing, him being around more. Whenever Nicholas saw something that he knew would make Danny laugh, Danny was right there and he could point it out to him. Or, whenever there was a lull in some conversation and Nicholas suddenly thought of the exact thing that had been eluding him in some case, Danny would just see the look on his face and hand him his notebook, watching eagerly and waiting for Nicholas to explain it so he could help out. And really, the way Danny looked at Nicholas was sort of nice to be around, too. Nobody had really looked at him like that before. Usually, he was on the receiving end of either glares, blank stares, pitying looks or awkward smiles. Not even any of his girlfriends had gazed at him quite like Danny did. He'd sort of counted it first as hero worship, until he woke up on Danny's sofa with their heads together and realised, wait, maybe Danny _cared_ about him.

So all in all, Nicholas was glad Danny had moved in. It just wasn't anything _official_ or concrete he could put words to. He couldn't say, "This is my boyfriend Danny, we live together," because Danny still had his own flat (though he'd changed the locks and only he and Danny had keys now) – Nicholas couldn't put his name on the lease or ask for help with the bills, though Danny kind of did that anyway. He'd tried saying once, that it was a bit daft Danny having his flat and never being there, but Danny had just gone quiet and said he'd spend more time at his flat if Nicholas wanted. It had taken a fair amount of backpedalling to convince him that wasn't what Nicholas had meant _at all_, but when Danny had asked what he _had_ meant, thereby giving him a shining and perfect opportunity to say the words "I want you to move in with me, properly," Nicholas had just frozen up and said he hadn't meant anything at all and could they just forget it.

The trouble was, Nicholas liked things orderly. Not as orderly as he had previously been fanatical about, but he still liked things to be _clear_, and this thing with Danny, it wasn't clear. It was great sex and great friendship and something worth staying in the middle of nowhere for, but it certainly wasn't clear. Then there was Danny himself, who seemed to coast through life getting from pub visit to pub visit by pretending to be Will Smith. Not that Nicholas didn't also pretend to be Will Smith in between pub visits, but he wasn't _relaxed_ like Danny. Chilled. Laid back. Danny was so laid back he was horizontal on a lilo on the south coast of Spain. So saying something like, "I see you appear to have moved in with me, Daniel," wouldn't really get him anywhere. Nicholas got the distinct impression that Danny would just shrug and say, "Yeah?" and offer him something sweet. (He kept finding the oddest forms of ice cream in his freezer, which could only be down to Danny. He had somehow managed to locate the ice cream counterpart of almost every chocolate bar on the market. Nicholas didn't know quite how he did it; whenever he looked for them to stock up again, they were nowhere to be seen. He was starting to suspect Danny had connections in the ice cream world, but he didn't say anything.)

Nicholas woke, one morning like every other recent morning, with Danny's nose shoved up against his ear. It was, in fact, Danny's breathing that had woken him; it was somewhere between a wheeze and a snore, and it was _very_ loud and _very_ close and the alarm wasn't due to go off for ten minutes, so Nicholas decided just to lie there. He went over the cases that were still open; an escaped goat that was ravaging the washing lines of the entire village before disappearing without trace, an out-of-towner who had reported invasion of privacy (the amount of times they had _told_ everybody to hand in their binoculars; but you try asking twenty bird-watchers to hand over their equipment. Those tree-house dwellers were surprisingly tenacious), and one report of a missing ladder stolen from right outside the newsagent's. He was just trying to see a pattern in the goat's trail of debris when the alarm rang and Danny jerked his head up.

"Where's the fire?" he snuffled, blinking sleepily. Nicholas patted him reassuringly, and he rubbed his eyes. "Is it time to get up?" he asked, yawning.

Nicholas couldn't think of anyone he'd rather be exposed to the morning breath of, which worried him sometimes, but right at that moment he just nodded and tried to roll out of bed. Danny had one arm flung over his chest, and before he moved it he gave Nicholas a smacking kiss on the cheek. Nicholas stuck his feet in his slippers and made his way to the bathroom, leaving the door unlocked for Danny to join him when he heard the shower going.

The smell of sizzling bacon had filled the kitchen by the time Danny appeared in it, running a towel through his hair. "That don't half smell good," he said, putting one arm around Nicholas's waist and kissing the back of his neck.

"Made it how you like it," Nicholas replied, handing him the plate he'd just arranged bacon and bread on. "Butter's over there." He pointed to the breakfast bar, and Danny grabbed a knife and the ketchup. He leaned against the counter to eat, watching Nicholas prepare his own breakfast.

"Why do you always eat tomatoes with it?" Danny asked.

"Because I like them," Nicholas said. He added, "You have ketchup on your chin," and Danny wiped it away with the back of his hand, licking it clean afterwards. Nicholas took his plate to the small table and sat down, raising his fork and spearing a slice of tomato. "Danny," he began, deciding what the hell, he might as well, "have you noticed you've sort of ... moved in?"

"Yeah." Danny sounded sheepish. "I didn't think you'd mind, I mean – I'm here all the time anyway, aren't I?"

"Yes, no, I don't mind, it's not that," Nicholas said, and this was going both better and worse than he'd thought. "I would just like it stated _officially_."

"Alright then. Can I officially move in?"

"Yes, Danny, you can."

"Can I have a half share in your peace lily?"

Nicholas paused, then nodded. "Yes, Danny, you can."

"Can I put those rifles above the fireplace?"

"No, Danny, you can't."

"Why not?"

"Those are police property, I've told you before."

"Oh _go_ on!"

"No, Danny."

"Please?"

"_No_, Danny."

"_Please_?"

"_No, Danny_."

"Oh." There was a pause. "I'll buy you a Cornetto?"

"No, Danny, I said no, the _answer_ is no."

"Alright, alright. Are you sure, though?"

"_Yes_, I am sure, Danny, okay, you cannot put police rifles over our fireplace."

"What about swords, could I put swords up there?"

"Are they police property?"

Danny considered the question. "Define property," he said at last.

Nicholas just looked at him over his teacup. "What?"

"Well, I'm a police officer, right?"

"Yes," Nicholas said, slowly.

"So, right, if I own stuff, because I'm a police officer, doesn't that make it police property? Since I _am_ the police, or, one of them."

"Yes, but police property doesn't mean just any old thing owned by an officer, it means equipment, things used for police work."

"Oh." Danny nodded. "Then no."

"No? What do you mean no, no what?"

"No, the swords aren't police property."

"Oh. Right." Nicholas sat back and thought about it. "Yeah, those could go over the fireplace."

Danny grinned. "_Cool_."

"They'd have to be properly secured to the wall."

"Yep," Danny nodded.

"As a safety precaution," Nicholas added.

"Of course," Danny nodded.

"With proper securing ... things," Nicholas pressed the point.

"Absolutely," Danny agreed.

Nicholas paused. "You do _have_ those things, don't you?"

"Er." Danny fiddled with his sleeves. "I could get some, my cousin's boyfriend's mate has this shop, it sells all kinds of stuff like that, bet I could get some secure whatsit things there."

"Alright. Just, make sure that you do."

"I will. And Nicholas?"

Nicholas sighed. "Yes?"

"I do love you, you know."

Nicholas put his plate, cutlery and teacup in the dishwasher before pressing up to Danny and saying, "I know. I love you too. Now, let's go to work, we've got a goat to arrest. I think I know where he's going to make his next move."


End file.
